Planner or Commando?

[3 Hobbits 2 Disney]

We are very relaxed...we each have favorite things to see (DH Mission Space, France, Epcot in general; DD Test Track, Safari and the walkthrough at AK; me...Main Street, I need to see Main Street to feel like I am truly present and MK overall...with Epcot a second). We make one or two ADRs and then play the rest by ear. We are able to do that since we tend to go off season so we haven't run into too many issues of getting what we want.

 

[Buckeye Fan]

Definitely a planner here. I plan which parks on specific days, make dining reservations so we don't have to worry about waits or getting into our favorites, and plan meals in the room for our Garden Grocer order! I'm just about ready to start my GG order for July!

For me, planning is almost as fun as the trip itself, so I do it for the enjoyment. It just happens to benefit us once we're there. I'm already thinking about a Dec trip we may or may not take. If I don't have a trip on the radar when we leave WDW, I am just not a happy camper! And you know...if mamma's not happy...

 

[Alan_BLT_2009]

We are somwhere in the middle. We still make ADRs. However, pre-DVC we were very detailed planners. Now we just rough-in which park we will be at and go from there.

 

[mom of princessx2]

I am a bit of a planner. Ok, maybe I am a huge planner but just for what parks to go on which days and I do like to have my ADR's in place. We like to have our relaxing down time and we always plan a couple days with no ADR's to have to go to. As our dd's get older we will be able to "go with the flow" even more but right now we need a bit of a plan but we would never do parks commando.

 

[GrumpyBelle]

I also like to go with the flow. We usually make a couple of dining reservations but that is all. We don't even plan our park days around our reservations since we have APs and can hop.

 

[UConnJack]

I too think of commando as always on the go and squeezing as much as possible into the time available, which of ocurse takes planning. So we are ususally both.

But I think what you meant was do we do less planning now? Yes, we do go to WDW now without always goose stepping all across the park to cram in as many rides as possible. We still plan somewhat, but since we go twice a year, we don't feel as much pressure to run from one ride/attraction to the other and close out the park every evening. We still like to get there as the park opens to beat crowds, but now we go back in the early afternoon, have some lunch and pool time, and then go back for a couple hours in the evening.

 

[pditullio]

Definitely a planner here. I plan which parks on specific days, make dining reservations so we don't have to worry about waits or getting into our favorites, and plan meals in the room for our Garden Grocer order! I'm just about ready to start my GG order for July!

For me, planning is almost as fun as the trip itself, so I do it for the enjoyment. It just happens to benefit us once we're there. I'm already thinking about a Dec trip we may or may not take. If I don't have a trip on the radar when we leave WDW, I am just not a happy camper! And you know...if mamma's not happy...

I couldn't agree more. Just starting out 20th year as DVC owners banana and you would think we'd be all 'whatever' by now, but I honestly get as much enjoyment out of the planning process as I do from my actual days in the World. That is not to say that our days themselves are not relaxing -- we build in a ton of down time, like many non-park/lounging around the resort days. In fact, I'd say we spend less than half our time in the parks these days. So our schedule itself is not rigid or rushed, but we do plan it all in advance.

To each his own, and if the planning causes stress for you, then by all means wing it. Unless you are going during peak and need to get ADP in order at a minimum...

Also, I am a Librarian, so maybe I am just OCD by nature, but I honestly can't relax unless I've built some structure around my visit. It would be very stressful for me to wake up and say 'where to today?' My parents (also members) are very much the opposite and when they are there without us, that is exactly how they start their days.

My DS10, though, is my boy through and through. He and I start the countdown and planning for the next trip as soon as out plane arrives back home (sometime prior!). He has the Disney addict DNA for sure.

 

[quirty30]

I too, thought that "commando" meant an extreme form of planning where you run non-stop all day long.

I am a planner in the sense that we tend to do one TS meal a day, and in order to make those ADR's, you do need to have an idea where you will be each day. Now once that day arrives, I don't have much of a plan at all, other than to try and get to the park by noon, and to immediately get Fastpasses for whatever our favorite attraction is in that park. At MK, that's Space Mountain; at Epcot, Soarin'; at DHS, TSM; and at AK, EE. Once we have those Fastpasses in hand, we just go with the flow.

Now, I will also say, that we don't always keep the plans I make. We often change our mind about a park and/or a restaurant once we get there. Last week, on Tuesday, which was supposed to be our AK day, we decided to just hang out at the pool. We did go to AK later in the day, just in time for our 5:15PM ADR at Yak & Yeti. Afterwards, I shopped, and the kids ran off to get in the single rider line for EE. The regular standby line was only 5 minutes - so they rode it 3 times in about a half hour. We then decided to head to the MK for the rest of the evening (not at all in the plans.)

 

[Anal Annie]

We're still pretty much commando types (often do both morning EMH's and evening EMH's). Just feel like we can't waste a minute. Not always sure when we'll get back down. Especially on shorter trips where we're only there for a long weekend or something. We have "our" rides that we do multiple times (like EE is a must-do for at least 4 or 5 times in a park visit). We do less crossing of the parks now tho. When DS was younger we'd hop all over from one side of a park to the other depending on what he wanted to ride next. NOW we've learned to finish a section before moving on and only come back if we have FP's for later. We only do 3-4 ADR's over the course of a whole week. Don't like having to be tied down to specific places & times (they feel more like interruptions).

 

[BEASLYBOO]

I stopped the "Commando" thing the instant I bought into DVC. We go 3 or 4 times a year, so what ever I didn't get to do this time, I'll do next! We only really stay all day at the parks if we have someone new to Disney travelling with us and they want to see it all!

As far as ADR's , I make a few but other than that I like a more spontaneous type of vacation, and I don't mind preparing a meal in the villa or better yet going out of Disney and eating out, Orlando has some really fantastic restaurants!. The one thing I absolutely hate is being held captive to ADR's, sometimes I don't want a full meal, who knows what the day will bring! I don't do the DDP either, too much of the same food!

Gone are the days of coming back to the hotel, dead and tired and having to face getting up at dawn to hit it hard again! Don't miss it at all! I actually enjoy the resorts more than the parks now!

The only actual planning I do is every 3 or 4 years, for our family reunions, with a travelling party of 9-11, it does require some organization, a few ADR's and some planning!

 

[CocosMeme]

We are very relaxed...we each have favorite things to see (DH Mission Space, France, Epcot in general; DD Test Track, Safari and the walkthrough at AK; me...Main Street, I need to see Main Street to feel like I am truly present and MK overall...with Epcot a second). We make one or two ADRs and then play the rest by ear. We are able to do that since we tend to go off season so we haven't run into too many issues of getting what we want.

Sounds like I have a twin! This is our typical visit. I had not idea until DVC that a trip to Disney could be so relaxing!

 

[sweetdana]

We are the same. My "plan" consists of picking which park each day (I avoid emh) and making a few adr. I have three adr made for our week long trip in July and I just made them yesterday. No 180 day out planning for me, but I also don't like waiting until we get there like some do. A few trips ago we had a family member get sick and had to rearrange things while we were there and found that over July 4th week the old saying of "Beggars can't be choosers" really held true.

Same here I plan park with avoiding EMD. I also book all ADRS, but don't feel bad if we are tired and don't go. We MAXimize the DDP, doing it segmented now, 1 day on 1 day off. So we will be more planning with these. We have also gone on a last min 3 days out with no ressies, and never looked back. We go to the parks until about 1 and then go to lunch, play in the pool, and relax until dinner then go enjoy dinner sometimes at a park.
Went 9 days in Aug, 8 days in Dec and missed TSM and Soarin, both trips due to lines.. no sweat.. Something that before would have killed me..

 

[Ron from Michigan]

The only thing we plan now is our dining reservations.

 

[BUDDYBEAR]

we are planners